ALGIERS, May 14 (Reuters) - Algeria's spending on imports of cereals, semolina and flour fell 24% in the first quarter, official figures showed on Tuesday.

Algeria, one of the world's largest grain importers, has been trying to reduce purchases of food and other products in a bid to cut spending due to lower energy revenues.

The import bill for soft wheat, durum wheat, semolina and flour declined to $614.38 million in the quarter from $811.37 million in the first three months of 2018, according to customs figures. The data provided no details on volumes.

Algeria's cereal output rose 74% to 6 million tonnes in 2018 from 3.5 million tonnes the previous year.

Overall spending on food imports fell 14% to $1.92 billion in the quarter from $2.25 billion a year earlier.